Royal Opera revival of La Fille du régiment delights with fresh fizz

Sara Blanch (Marie) & Juan Diego Flórez (Tonio)
© RBO/Tristram Kenton

Yves Abel (Conductor)

Laurent Pelly (Director & Costume Designer)

Dan Dooner (Revival Director)

Agathe Mélinand (Dialogue)

Chantal Thomas (Set Designer)

Joël Adam (Lighting Designer)

Laura Scozzi (Choreographer)

Karine Girard (Revival Choreographer)

Royal Opera Chorus

William Spaudling (Chorus Director)

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Magnus Johnston (Concert Master)

Juan Diego Flórez (Tonio)
© RBO/Tristram Kenton

Sara Blanch (Marie)

Juan Diego Flórez (Tonio)

Paolo Bordogna (Sulpice Pingot)

Sonia Ganassi (La Marquise de Berkenfield)

Donald Maxwell (Hortensius)

Eugene Dillon-Hooper (Corporal)

Luke Price (Peasant)

Jean-Pierre Blanchard (Notary)

Tamsin Greig (La Duchesse de Crakentorp)

7.30pm, Tuesday 7 July 2026

Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London

★★★★

Donizetti, Gaetano (1797-1848): La fille du régiment, Opera comique

(Libretto de Saint-Georges, Jules-Henri Vernoy (1799-1845) & Bayard, Jean-François-Alfred (1796-1853))

Sara Blanch (Marie), Juan Diego Flórez (Tonio)
& Paolo Bordogna (Sulpice)
© RBO/Tristram Kenton

'Laurent Pelly’s sparkling production of Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment is back at The Royal Opera, and based on last night’s opening performance, the fizz is as fresh as ever'.

'Making her Royal Opera debut as Marie, Sara Blanch was frankly astonishing. She is the complete package, with impeccable comic timing and convincing physical comedy, but also phenomenal vocal technique, whether upright, lying down or being held aloft by a chorus of soldiers'.

'He also still has that ability to flip from Harold Lloyd-esque comedy and highwire vocal gymnastics to winning hearts in the sustained lyricism of 'Pour me rapprocher de Marie''.

'Tamsin Greig’s splendid turn as the stuffy Duchess was in danger of stealing the show, even managing to make the shoe-horned World Cup jokes land, and maintaining character right to the curtain call'.

Tamsin Greig (Duchesse de Crakentorp) and chorus
© RBO/Tristram Kenton

'So raise a glass of bubbly to this effervescent and polished evening of joyful nonsense, and to the strong performances all round, not least from Flórez and especially Blanch – here’s hoping for more from her at Covent Garden in the future'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Glyndebourne’s Billy Budd makes a welcome return, fresh and devastating as ever

The Glyndebourne Chorus in Billy Budd
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton

Nicholas Carter (Conductor)

Michael Grandage (Director)

Ian Rutherford (Revival Director)

Christopher Oram (Designer)

Paule Constable (Lighting Designer)

Mark Ruddick (Flight Director)

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Pieter Schoeman (Leader)

The Glyndebourne Chorus

Aidan Oliver (Chorus Director)

Thomas Mole (Billy Budd)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton

Allan Clayton (Captain Vere)

Michael Wallace (First Mate)

John Mackenzie-Lavansch (Second Mate)

William Thomas (Mr Flint)

Michael Ronan (Bosun)

Samuel Dale Johnson (Donald)

Ru Charlesworth (Maintop)

Laurence Kilsby (Novice)

Daniel Norman (Squeak)

Dingle Yandell (Mr Redburn)

Daniel Okulitch (Lieutenant Ratcliffe)

Sam Carl (Claggart)

Alasdair Elliott (Red Whiskers)

Adam Marsden (Arthur Jones)

Thomas Mole (Billy Budd)

Alex Otterburn (Novice's Friend)

Clive Bayley (Dansker)

Gabriel Elliott Rous (Cabin Boy)

Sam Carl (Claggart) & Daniel Norman (Squeak)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton

5pm, Thursday 2 July 2026

Glyndebourne, East Sussex

★★★★

Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976): Billy Budd, Op. 50

(libretto by Forster, E.M. (1879-1970) & Crozier, Eric (1914-1994))

'Thomas Mole's Billy, full of wide-eyed innocence, held onto his blind belief in Captain Vere right to the very end, despite evidence to the contrary, and was convincingly moving throughout'.

'Allan Clayton's steely tenor was impressive as ever as Vere, and the transition from the troubled and flawed captain to the haunted old man of the Prologue and Epilogue, reflecting on his failure to protect and save Billy, was powerfully moving'. 

William Thomas (Mr Flint), Allan Clayton (Captain Vere)
& Dingle Yandell (Mr Redburn)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton

'Sam Carl (Claggart) had the vocal range and ... his baritone was penetratingly evil'.

'The chorus excelled at full-voice, as well as in their quiet chanting resignation, and their choreographed resistance and rapid movement around the levels of the set were solid and convincing'.

'Nicholas Carter conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra with precision and energy, bringing brilliance to Britten’s searing score, especially from the gleaming brass'. 

Clive Bayley (Dansker), Alasdair Elliott (Red Whiskers),
Samuel Dale Johnson (Donald) & Alex Otterburn (Novice's Friend)
© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Improvisatory Gershwin from Ryan Wang in a boldly energetic Chromatica programme

Ewan Millar and Chromatica Orchestra
© Monika Jakubowska

Ryan Wang (piano)

Nick Walker (trumpet)

Ewan Millar (cor anglais)

Ingunn Korsgård Hagen (conductor)

Jonathan Gibson (conductor)

Students from Bobby Moore Academy

Chromatica Orchestra

Maren Bosma (leader)

7.30pm, Wednesday 17 June 2026

Grand Hall, Battersea Arts Centre, London

★★★★

Ryan Wang and Chromatica Orchestra
© Monika Jakubowska

Copland, Aaron (1900-1990): Quiet City

Gerwshin, George (1898-1937): Rhapsody in Blue

Encore:

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791): Piano Sonata no. 11 in A major, K331: Rondo alla Turca (arr. Volodos, Arcadi (b.1972)/Say, Fazil (b.1970)/Wang, Ryan?)

Bernstein, Leonard (1918-1990):  Symphonic Dances from 'West Side Story': 'Mambo'

Ives, Charles (1874-1954): Central Park in the Dark

Bernstein, Leondard: Suite from 'Fancy Free'

'Rhythms were tight, intonation solid and ensemble strong, and they were at the programme’s centre, rather than tucked away in pre-concert event'.

'The trumpet carries the questioning solo line, with the cor anglais a kind of echoing reminder, and this came across well in Walker’s assured yet nervy entries, and Millar’s mournful, mellow tones'. 

Ingunn Korsgård Hagen conducts Chromatica Orchestra
© Monika Jakubowska

'The spirit of the performance and the clear enjoyment of the Chromatica players held it all together, with sprightly tempi set by Wang and Korsgård Hagen...Wang returned for a bravura jazzed-up encore of Mozart’s Rondo alla turca.'.

'With drunken waltzes, jazzy piano moments and cheeky swagger (with sailor hats) from the drummer and pianist, they had great fun, whilst negotiating those complex rhythms with ease'.

'They all had a ball, and that communicated to the audience, bringing their programme full of energetic rhythm and bombast but also atmospheric nuance to a joyful close'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Ingunn Korsgård Hagen conducts Chromatica Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Ryan Wang and Chromatica Orchestra
© Nick Boston

Tavener's Krishna fails to convince in world premiere at Grange Park Opera

Brett Polegato (Krishna)
© Marc Brenner

Mark Shanahan (Conductor)

David Pountney (Director)

Rachana Jadhav (Designer)

Shobana Jeyasingh (Choreographer)

Catarina Carvalho (Dancer Rehearsal Director)

Tim Mitchell (Lighting Designer)

Ross Ramgobin (Celestial Narrator)

Rosa Sparks (Krishna - child)

Eliran Kadussi (Krishna - adolescent)

Elgan Llŷr Thomas (Krishna - young man)

Brett Polegato (Krishna - man)

Sara Fulgoni (Yashoda, Bhumi)

Nazan Fikret (Rukmini)

Julia Sitkovetsky (Radha - woman)

Eliran Kadussi (Krishna as adolescent)
© Marc Brenner

Jennifer Statham (Radha - child)

Nao Masuda (Drummer)

Tabitha O'Sullivan, Mirabel Huang-Smith, Chia-Yu Hsu, Kynda Ng, Ella Pileggi, Yanki Yau (Dancers)

The Gascoigne Orchestra

Robert Salter (Leader)

5pm, Thursday 4 June 2026

World premiere

Grange Park Opera, Surrey

★★★

Tavener, John (1944-2013): Krishna: A Mystical Pantomime

(libretto by Tavener, John, with inspiration and some text by Prime, Ranchor (b.c.1950))

Krishna at Grange Park Opera
© Marc Brenner

'Tavener’s music is ... relatively successful in places, with a kind of meditative build in tension, although we are kept waiting for a fair while before any sense of climax'.

'Rachana Jadhav’s design of the temple staging, combines with effective lighting from Tim Mitchell do create a colourful and pleasing backdrop to the ‘action’, as do the vibrant costumes'.

'Sopranos Julia Sitkovetsky (Radha) and Nazan Fikret (Rukmini) stood out as the most impressive voices of the evening, their ‘uniting’ duet almost eclipsing the love duet between Radha and Krishna'.

'Mark Shanahan conducted the Gascoigne Orchestra with controlled precision, and moments of glistening brass and bells brought the score to life, as did the ‘aerial’ flutes up in the high balcony'.

Krishna at Grange Park Opera
© Marc Brenner

'An unpublished work of a deceased composer must always be a great temptation, but on this occasion, sadly, it might have been best left alone'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Nazan Fikret (Rukmini) & Julia Sikovetsky (Radha as woman)
© Marc Brenner

Václav Luks and the OAE deliver creative colour and operatic scale in Haydn's Creation

Nick Pritchard, Václav Luks
& the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
© Mark Allan

Robin Johannsen (soprano, Gabriel & Eve)

Nick Pritchard (tenor, Uriel)

Krešimir Stražanac (bass-baritone, Raphael & Adam)

Choir of the Age of Enlightenment

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Huw Daniel (leader)

Václav Luks (conductor)

7pm, Wednesday 27 May 2026

Royal Festival Hall, London

★★★★

Haydn, Joseph (1732-1809): Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Hob. XXI:2

The Choir & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
© Mark Allan

'From the opening rumbling strings, joined by agile bassoon triplets, Luks created perfect mystery in the strange unresolved cadences ...The choir responded with a controlled pianissimo, giving the ‘shock’ of the forte arrival of 'Licht!' an appropriately impressive impact'.

'Tenor Nick Pritchard (Uriel) was the most directly communicative of the soloists, with commanding recitative, and a beautifully refined 'Mit Würd’ und Hoheit angetan', with delicate flute filigree'.

'Soprano Robin Johannsen (Gabriel and Eve) was a late change to the line-up, but her bright coloratura and fluttering tone were a delight, and her duets with Stražanac (now Adam) were sensitively characterised, as was his slightly mischievous Figaro-esque delivery'.

'What was most impressive was (the choir's) ability to work at speed, especially some of Luks’ most enthusiastic tempi'. 

Robin Johannsen
& the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
© Mark Allan

'Luks, the OAE, choir and soloists certainly brought the full range of Haydn’s ambitious masterpiece to life, while also demonstrating their ability to bring colour and nuance to the fore'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

Brighton Philharmonic play their socks off at the Brighton Festival

Joanna MacGregor conducting the
Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra
© Fernando Manoso

William Kentridge (director)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Joanna MacGregor (conductor)

'Oh To Believe in Another World'

Brighton Festival

8pm, Sunday 17 May 2026

Brighton Dome

★★★★

Shostakovich, Dmitri (1906-1975): Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93

Oh To Believe in Another World
- film by William Kentridge

'Could (the BPO) rise to the challenge of Shostakovich’s mighty Tenth Symphony? Happily, yes they could, with some of the best playing I have ever heard from them'.

'Their skittering race fitting well with Kentridge’s ironic imagery on film of bustling transport and crowds, later skewering the idea of relentless progress with shots of the realities of harsh manual labour'

'Principal Horn Alexei Watkins delivered Elmira’s motif with secure warmth, while the flutes and piccolos screamed the D-S-C-H motto'.

'From the orchestra, we had a wonderfully acerbic solo from bassoonist Jonathan Price, and the brass hammering out that D-S-C-H motto at the conclusion certainly cried out defiance'.

'Neither the film nor the music gave us a clear answer, but the combined effect was nevertheless emphatically powerful'. 

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

'Bringers of Dreams': Brighton Early Music Festival 2026 Preview

Hannah Ely (soprano)
Olwen Foulkes (recorders)
Oliver Webber (violin)
Kristiina Watt (lute, theorbo, baroque guitar)
Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba)
The Royal Sackbut Collective:
Buchen Zhao (alto & tenor sackbut)
Jonathan Stevens (alto & tenor sackbut)
Jess Anderson (tenor sackbut)
Andrew Cowie (tenor sackbut)
José Teixeira (tenor sackbut)
Jonny Lovatt (bass sackbut)
 
7.30pm, Saturday 9 May 2026
Champs Hill, Pulborough
 

Oliver Webber, Olwen Foulkes,
Harry Buckoke & Kristiina Watt
© Cathy Boyes

Brighton Early Music Festival, now in its 24^th year, will run from 2-25 October 2026, with its usual selection of pre-festival workshops and community and family events from 19 September onwards. This year’s theme is ‘Bringers of Dreams’, and last Saturday, BREMF held a Festival Preview event at the picturesque setting of Champs Hill. 
 
The idea was to present a flavour of some of the music that will be performed, but presented here by a small group of performers, including co-Artistic Directors Hannah Ely and Olwen Foulkes. They were joined by festival regulars Oliver Webber (violin), Kristiina Watt (lute, theorbo & baroque guitar) and Harry Buckoke (viola da gamba). And representing the BREMF Emerging Artists scheme (formerly known as BREMF Live!) was The Royal Sackbut Collective, who will be performing in the opening concert of this year’s festival. 
 
Hannah and Olwen gave an overview of some of the key themes of the festival, and talked with passion about the great work that BREMF does, particularly with the Emerging Artists, in schools across Brighton and Hove, and also touched on One Song, a project working with settled refugees in Brighton, who will be sharing songs from their homes via a video installation in an exhibition during the festival.
 

Olwen Foulkes & Hannah Ely
BREMF Co-Artistic Directors
© Cathy Boyes

They then introduced the evening’s programme, which was made up of principally three sections. They began with a selection of excerpts from Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, which will be performed at the end of the festival by the London Handel Players and solo singers from the Emerging Artists programme (currently being recruited). Webber & Foulkes gave us a bright opening Hornpipe, then Ely delivered ‘See my many colour’d fields’ with a beautifully mellow, pure tone, with gentle ornamentation from Webber on the violin. Several dance movements were given variety with Foulkes switching recorders and sensitive accompaniment provided by Watt and Buckoke. But the highlight of this brief selection had to be The Plaint, ‘O let me weep’, from the final Masque. Here, Ely’s pure tone was enriched with moments of passion (‘He’s gone’) and lamenting sighs. They certainly whetted the appetite for a full rendition of this wonderful semi-opera in October. 
 
Next came a sequence of Dowland songs, as we are in year of the 400^th anniversary of his death, and thus Dowland will feature highly in this year’s festival, with a day-long celebration of his music on Saturday 17 October. Here, four members of the Royal Sackbut Collective stepped forward to accompany Hannah Ely in ‘O sweet woods, the delight of solitariness’, and despite the Champs Hill hall’s relatively dry acoustic, they balanced the sackbuts with subtlety, blending with Ely’s sensitive singing remarkably well. Ely was then joined by Watt on the lute and for ‘Time stands still’, sung with pose, delicate ornamentation and precise diction, with graceful support from the lute. Foulkes on recorder and Buckoke on the viola da gamba joined for ‘Now, O now I needs must part’, with Foulkes’ playful and virtuosic treble recorder lightly dancing along, and they concluded the sent with ‘Sorrow, stay, lend true repentant tears’, with more plaintive lamenting from Ely, following Dowland’s word-painting lines down (‘down I fall’) and up again (‘arise’), finishing with beautiful control on the long final note. Again, a short taste, but a reminder of the surprising variety of colours and moods in Dowland’s songs.
 

BREMF 2026 Festival Preview - full ensemble
© Nick Boston

After the interval, the remainder of the concert shifted focus to Florence as a true ‘City of Dreams’. The opening concert will trace 200 years of Florentine art and invention, and will feature the Monteverdi String Band (led by Oliver Webber), the BREMF Consort of Voices, and The Royal Sackbut Collective. Tonight’s music took us from ‘En vray amoure’, attributed to Henry VIII in the early 16^th century through to music by Gabrieli, Caccini and Uccellini, taking us up to the mid 17^th century. The Royal Sackbut Collective contrasted lively rhythms and virtuosic, rapid motion in the Henry VIII piece with sombre, dark tones and dynamic interest in Verdelot’s ‘Se l’ardor foss’ equale’. Oliver Webber then introduced the ‘lira da braccio’, an instrument designed specifically for accompanying the voice, often seen in renaissance art. Performing on the instrument for the first time, the blend of drone, ornamentation and harmony blended perfectly with Ely’s voice in Corteccia’s ‘O begli anni de l’oro’. In Marenzio’s ‘Belle ne fe' natura’, Ely, Foulkes and Webber weaved their three high lines in a perfect blend, then the four instrumentalists danced through Marini’s Sonata with fresh virtuosic energy. ‘Mater Hierusalem’, from an early 17^th century manuscript (‘Carlo G.’) followed, full of decorative divisions and ornamentation from Webber and Ely, the complexity increasing and matched, one after the other. The Royal Sackbut Collective returned for the glorious ‘O Jesu Christe’ by Giovanni Gabrieli, the players warming their blend nicely from a quiet opening to a full sound, with gently rocking rhythms in the triplet sections. Caccini’s ‘Chi nel fior di giovinezza’ followed from Ely and the instrumentalists, the voice now playful, even skittish, with virtuosic melismas, and they then brought the evening to a close with an instrumental Aria Sopra la Bergamasca by Uccellini, launched by a ground bass from Buckoke on viola da gamba, and building to joyful virtuosity from Foulkes and Webber, their rapid flourishes running from one to the other. 
 
This whole final section was a wonderful reminder of the joys of the Florentine repertoire, and brought back memories of BREMF’s Florentine Intermedi (2012) and Four Weddings and Funeral (2010) with Musica Secreta. So lots of great music to look forward to in this year’s festival, presented in imaginative and innovative ways and continuing the BREMF tradition of exploring connections and challenging preconceptions of early music. The full programme will be launching soon, but for now, sign up on their mailing list here for more information.

(Pre-order The Royal Sackbut Collective's debut album here).